1916 Military Service Act exemptions

[BeeJayEss]

Is there any way of finding out if a man was issued with a certificate of exemption under The 1916 Military Service Act? Thanks.

[alf mcm]

Welcome to the forum,

You could try local newspapers. They contain reports of Local Appeal Tribunals. https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search/british-newspapers?date=1916-01-01&date_offsetdate=1916-12-31&lastname=smith&modifiedfacets=true&exactnames=true&exactkeywords=false&keywords=appeal tribunal

Or you could give us his name, when he was born, where he lived, was he married, what was his occupation etc.

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

[PRC]

52 minutes ago, BeeJayEss said:

Is there any way of finding out if a man was issued with a certificate of exemption under The 1916 Military Service Act? Thanks.

 

Hi and welcome to the forum.

 

The local newspaper reports, in my experience, seldom mention a name so it's more a question of working out whether the personal circumstances fit. Bear in mind employers could apply for a whole batch of employees which makes it even harder. It's probably as well to get an understanding of what the individual was up to at the time this was likely to become an issue - marital status, age, occupation, employed \ self employed and so on. Even then the most likely outcome is an indication of whether he might have got an exemption rather than he definately did get an exemption. As far as I'm aware there is no surviving paperwork.

 

Cheers,

Peter

[BeeJayEss]

Thanks for the replies.  Frederick Swain Avent was born in Bristol on 21 Mar 1892, three of his older brothers served in the Great War. Alfred George Avent (b1878) was in the “Glosters”, Albert Swain Avent (b1889) and Frank Swain Avent (b1890) were in RAMC.

 

Fred’s family owned a chain of clothes shop, started by his father in the 1870’s selling second hand boots and clothing. By 1912 the business was being ran by another of Fred’s brothers, Charles Swain Avent, Fred was working for him as a shop assistant. At this time Avent & Co had diversified into dealing in Government surplus and band uniforms. A memoire of one of the brother’s sons describing the family home states “Warehouse; ground floor – military uniforms, helmets, boots, swords, bell tents. First floor – work rooms, women making alterations to military uniform for bandsmen”.

Fred doesn’t appear to have been in the military, he married in Dec 1915 and stated his occupation as Clothier. His first son was born in May 1916, that birth certificate says Fred was a Co-Operative Society Salesman, in Sep 1917 his second son was born and his occupation is Co-Operative Society’s Clothing Assistant. When his first daughter was born in Jul 1919, he is a Shipping Goods Checker. These jobs do not sound like they would qualify for reserved occupations but could the sewing of military uniforms lend a clue as to why he didn't serve?

Edited 24 May , 2020 by BeeJayEss

[alf mcm]

My experience, with Linlithgowshire newspapers, is that there are a great many names mentioned and a lot of family. What you get seems to depend on individual newspapers editorial policy.

I don't think any Military Service Tribunal records have survive, but The National Archives has records for the Middlesex Military Service Appeal Tribunals and the National Records of Scotland {Scotlandspeople} have records for the Edinburgh and Lothians Appeal Tribunal {which also includes records from some other parts of Scotland}.

The Appeal Tribunals handled cases where the appelants were not happy with the Military Service Tribunal's decision, and make interesting reading.

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

 

 

[rolt968]

There are a number of pockets of Military Service Tribunal Records which have survived, But I don't remember any for the Bristol area.

The local newspapers are certainly worth trying, but they are inconsistant in whether they report anything and if they give names.

 

It's a long shot, but has a roll of honour for the local cooperative society survived?

RM

[alf mcm]

This rather large file from The National Archives shows the list of protected trades in 1916 {the first document}, and many other related documents. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14091004

This is the equivalent for 1917 https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14091005

And for 1918 https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14091006

All these files are free to download from T.N.A., even without registering.

The rules changed between 1916 and 1918, becoming more restrictive.

Frederick may have been exempted from military service if his company was working on government contracts, or if he was physically not fit enough for the army.

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

[BeeJayEss]

Thank you all.  On the 1911 census Fred's occupation is Shop Assistant and the Industry or Service is "Government Contracts".  I will have a read of T.N.A. links, thanks Alf McM.

[dink999]

Between 1916 & 1918 In Gloucestershire(which then included Bristol) over 40 Local Military Appeal Tribunals heard up to 100,000 appeals from men who were called up for military service. 

 

The files relating to these Local Appeals have not survived (except for Thornbury). The authorities ordered that they should be destroyed in 1921.

 

However once a Local Appeal Tribunal had made a decision either the man or the military could appeal to one of 5 County Appeal Tribunals which were held at Bristol, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Lydney and later Stroud.

 

Over 10,000 appeals were heard at County level and brief details were recorded and have survived. The records are at Gloucestershire Archives (ref. D570/1/2) and details include the name of the applicant, their address, occupation, reason for appealing and the date the case was heard.

 

Here is an example of one of the sheets that include men from Bristol. I have transcribed all 405 sheets and can tell that your man does not appear at the County level appeal process. That of course does not mean that he did not go through an appeal process at local level in Bristol as only 10% of cases made it to the County level. 

 

Dave

[BeeJayEss]

Thank you Dave, that's really interesting.

 

Bev